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Welcome to another of my many, many Pokémon FAQs. This FAQ covers the first of the Pokémon games: Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green Versions. I have become rather well-known for FAQing many Pokémon games: indeed, I have already covered all of the mainstream Pokémon games by now (2014), and most of the side-games. I had originally covered Pokémon Red, Blue, and Green once before, back in 2012. However, there was something that prompted me to relook and review my FAQ: the news that the Cerulean Cave in Pokémon Red/Green in Japan differed from the one in Pokémon Red/Blue that I originally FAQed. Even today, my decision to FAQ Pokémon R/B/G, long after it had been seemingly well-covered, was not a welcomed one; in part, I mostly did it just because I wanted to. So, in a way, I guess I can justify it by covering the new Cerulean Cave decently. It's not a lot of justification, but practically no other FAQ has even acknowledged the existence of two Cerulean Caves.

When you use the Basics section, keep in mind what it entails: there is a LOT on that Table of Contents, a lot of competitively-relevant info. I mostly chose to include a few of the following sections on the Controls and Save Data for the sake of their common usage: people tend to look these things up most often for whatever reason. That aside, most of the other stuff - like how to operate menus and the like - is in the game's e-manual.

What this section does is operate on a different level. These sections will mostly analyze the game from one of three aspects: the mechanical aspect (such as the formulas for damage), the competitive aspect (playing Pokémon very well against other well-versed players), and a mixture thereof. If you do not plan on playing against other people competitively or do not plan on playing in the Battle Maison for extended periods of time, do not bother using those sections. I have gotten complaints regarding the length of the Basics section on the whole, so I feel the need for you to remember that this section is not required reading unless you want to understand various mechanical/strategic aspects of the game (or view a little trivia). If you plan to play the game only to play the game, you'll be better off consulting the e-manual than this guide for the basic info.

I do, of course, provide a Walkthrough that will help walk you through the game's plot, step by step, without this mechanic info.

(In case you're unaware, this section was drafted when the Pokémon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow games were released on the Nintendo eShop or thereabouts, so take the 20 years since then into context.)

Pokémon is itself a very technical game. While we will get deeper into these technicalities in other sections of this conglomerate of "basics" and in the various appendices, it would be first be most prudent to give you, the readers, a quick list of what will be referred to throughout the guide. Those familiar with the competitive scene of Pokémon need no real introduction to most of these terms, and most having played Pokémon in general will only need to give this a quick glance at times; however, everyone else should give this section at least a decent read-over, especially those of you who are new to Pokémon. There are several definitions here some of you may find surprising and in themselves immensely helpful to understanding Pokémon in general, and by far much more in-depth than what the game will likely ever yield unto you. >_>

In any case, if you think something else should be added here, feel free to e-mail me.

MAINSTREAM GAME NAME ABBREVIATIONS & REGIONS

Generation

Games' Full Names

In-Game Regions

Consoles

Common Abbreviations

Gen. I

Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow Versions

Kanto

GameBoy

Pokémon R/B/G/Y

Gen. II

Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal Versions

Johto & Kanto

GameBoy Color

Pokémon G/S/C

Gen. III

Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald Versions

Hoenn

GameBoy Advance

Pokémon R/S/E

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen Versions

Kanto & Sevii Isles

GameBoy Advance

Pokémon FR/LG

Gen. IV

Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum Versions

Sinnoh

Nintendo DS

Pokémon D/P/Pt

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions

Johto & Kanto

Nintendo DS

Pokémon HG/SS

Gen. V

Pokémon Black and White Versions

Unova

Nintendo DS

Pokémon B/W -or- Pokémon B1/W1

Pokémon Black and White Versions 2

Unova

Nintendo DS

Pokémon B/W 2 -or- Pokémon B2/W2

Gen. VI

Pokémon X and Y

Kalos

Nintendo 3DS

Pokémon X/Y

Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

Hoenn

Nintendo 3DS

Pokémon OR/AS*

NOTE (*): Sometimes, you'll also see the uppercase Greek "omega" for "O" and lowercase Greek "alpha" for "A"

Accuracy: The preset hit rate each move has for itself that determines how likely it is to hit. In general, this can be seen as a percentage: for example, Stone Edge has 80 Accuracy so it could be seen as having an 80% hit rate. A move with a 100% hit rate is generally always going to hit. However, this is only when you assume that your accuracy has not been changed by certain moves or your foe's evasion. Certain moves - usually status moves, but a niche few others - will ignore accuracy and evasion entirely, and always hit.

Attack (Atk.): Attack is one of the stats a Pokémon can have. Attack will affect the damage dealt by certain moves: that is, physical moves. Physical moves are those that deal damage and are of the Normal, Fighting, Flying, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, or Poison types.

Base Stat (sometimes "BS" or "base"): Base stats are used to indicate the general prowess of a Pokémon in a particular stat. Base stats can range from 1 to 255 in a given stat. For most people, a base value of 110+ indicates that the Pokémon is good in that stat, though it all relates back to the Trainer's own strategy. In any case, the higher a base stat, the better for the user.

Base Stat Total (BST): The total of a Pokémon's base stats, used to communicate its general prowess. Depending on the Pokémon, however, its actual strategic value may be skewed because of certain high base stats. For example, Shuckle's base 230 in Defense and Sp. Def. really skews it BST up somewhat higher than its actual strategic value would indicate (almost no one really uses it).

Catch Rate: A hidden charateristic of all Pokémon that helps to determine how likely you are to catch it, ranging from 1 to 255 (where 255 is best for you). See the Pokémon Capture section for some more details.

Class: Class is an attribute given to moves: it determines the move's own nature and what stats its damage is based on. There are three classes: Physical, Special, and Status. Physical moves usually are based on the user's Attack and the target's Defense; Special moves are usually based on the user's Special; and Status moves use neither, but instead affect various other things. Granted, class is not an important characteristic in Generation I, since Physical/Special classification for damaging moves is related only to the type of move.

Critical Hit (a.k.a. Critical or just Crit): An attack that does roughly 100% more damage than normal (double damage). When an attack is critical, it will be openly declared as such by the game. Critical hits are related to the Pokémon's base Speed stat, in terms of how often they occur - specifically, the base Speed divided by 512. It is definitely an imbalance in the game one can abuse quite well with faster Pokémon. Critical hits are also influenced by the fact that certain moves like Slash have higher critical-hit rates: EIGHT times higher, in fact. Critical hits also notably ignore Attack losses, from Burns or Growls or whatever may lower it, though it will also ignore any Attack boosts you do have; they also ignore boosts on the foe's defense.

Defense (Def.): Defense is one of the stats a Pokémon can have. Defense will affect the damage dealt by certain moves: that is, physical moves. Physical moves are those that deal damage and are of the Normal, Fighting, Flying, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, or Poison types.

Dynamic Value (DV): In Generations I and II, only four DVs - which we know today in the modern games as IVs - are found: one each for Attack, Defense, Speed, and Special. One for HP also exists, but it is determined by the other four. These first four are completely random in value, and range from 0-15. HP is calculated by turning that number into binary and taking the "one's" digit of each of those DVs in that order, then using that. So IVs of 1, 3, 5, and 15 (0001, 0011, 0101, and 1111 respectively) yield an HP DV of 15 (1111).

Event Pokémon: Event Pokémon are those only given out by Nintendo, Game Freak, or certain other third parties (in particular, GameStop and its subsidaries lately) in real life. Common Pokémon for this include special Shiny Pokémon (i.e. the Shiny Gengar given out in October 2014), those with otherwise illegal moves (i.e. the Pikachu that can Surf and Fly), those that just have special Formes (e.g. the Pokéball-Pattern and Fancy Pattern Vivillons from X/Y), Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Deoxys, Shaymin, Darkrai, Arceus, Victini, Meloetta, Genesect, Diancie, Hoopa, and Volcanion: in general, these Pokémon cannot be obtained in the games at all, and must be obtained by getting it at those particular events or trading with someone who did get one from the same. There are other means for Event Pokémon to be distributed, too, such as the Pokémon Bank Celebi and the Black/White launch Victini, and it doesn't have to be restricted to these legendaries: other Pokémon with certain special characteristics are often distributed. Japan and Korea get most of these distributions, too. In any case, I would recommend checking Bulbanews (http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Front_page) or Serebii (http://www.serebii.net/) regularly for details on these events.

Evolution: When a Pokémon meets certain conditions - usually reaching a certain level, though the methods vary - the Pokémon will evolve. This is usually accompanied by stat boosts, a better set of moves to learn, and so on. The exact conditions for evolution for every Pokémon can be seen in the Pokémon Evolutions section.

Experience Points (EXP.): When a Pokémon defeats another in battle, it will earn EXP. By earning enough EXP., the Pokémon will level up and become stronger.

Gym Badge: The mark that you have conquered a Pokémon Gym, these will allow you to use certain HMs in the field at times, but otherwise only serve a signatory purpose. Your goal is to collect all eight, one per Gym in the region.

Hidden Machine (HM): One a very few special TMs that can teach Pokémon moves that can also be used in the field, like Cut (to cut down trees) and Surf (to cross water). You will need most of these to progress through the game.

Hit Points (HP): This refers to a Pokémon's health. HP can go down via a number of means, primarily attacks though certain weather conditions and ailments and even the Pokémon's own moves can also cause loss of HP. As HP is above 50%, the HP bar is green; from 50% to 25%, it is yellow; and from 25% down it is red. These colors indicate the danger the Pokémon's health is in: when it hits 0 HP, the Pokémon is fainted and cannot act, except for the use of HMs in the field. Be sure to keep Pokémon healed with Potions and the like!

HM Slave: A Pokémon owned for the sole purpose - at least for the most part - of using HMs. By distributing all of your needed HM moves to a single Pokémon or two, you greatly diversify the main movepool of the others you do use, but at the same time it costs you in overall team variety. It's a give-and-take system; ideally, you'll learn to distribute HMs throughout the team, but it's more than manageable to slave some Pokémon. Common Pokémon in the past have included Zigzagoon and Bidoof's evolutionary chains.

Item: An item in the Pokémon series has one of two uses, generally: to be used for an immediate effect, or to be held by a Pokémon for an in-battle use of some sort. See the Items Listings section for more.

Legendary Pokémon: A Pokémon whose in-game plot creates some kind of god-like aura about it. For example, Arceus is known as the Pokémon God because he created the universe, therefore he is a legendary Pokémon; Mew is known as the ancestor of most modern Pokémon and can learn any move desired, and therefore is a legendary Pokémon; Groudon is known as the one who rose the continents, and therefore is a legendary Pokémon. A Legendary Pokémon has a storyline behind it that often is the focus of a single game or of a special Nintendo Event, or sometimes even the subject of one of the Pokémon anime's movies. Many times, these Pokémon are strong -- however, do not confuse the label of Legendary Pokémon with strength or strategic validity! Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi, for example, are considered legendary, but they are not particularly strong: it's the plot behind them driving that "legendary" label. Strategic viability and stats usually determine how good a Pokémon is: I can easily beat Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi with non-legendary Pokémon, moreso than the other legends. Another example is how the site Smogon has classed Blaziken - a starter Pokémon - into its "Ubers" tier, a tier largely populated by legendary Pokémon, whereas those I just named are in the "UU" ("underused") tier, two tiers below.

Level (originally "L", now "Lv."): The general level of a Pokémon's strength. It rises as EXP. is earned, and can range from 1 to 100, where 100 is the strongest that the Pokémon can get. Glitch Pokémon can range up to Level 255.

Move: An attack a Pokémon can use. Most moves are used to deal damage in some way, and others can be used to boost stats or affect statuses, and many of both kinds have additional special affects. See the Move List.

Original Trainer (OT): The original owner of a Pokémon, given by their selected in-game name. This isn't a particularly important characteristic, it's just a quick identifier for who gave you what Pokémon. The main issues someone finds in regards to "Is this my Pokémon or not" involves IDs. (See: "Trainer ID & Secret ID")

Physical: A move Class that considers the user's Attack and the target's Defense to calculate damage.

Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monster): Pokémon are the creatures who live alongside us in the world of Pokémon: as partners, as pets, as friends, as family... Pokémon are the central creatures of all Pokémon games. By catching and training Pokémon, a Pokémon Trainer proves their might both in terms of raising Pokémon and in terms of strategy. It is every Pokémon Trainer's goal to one day beat all eight Pokémon Gyms in their region and then beat the Elite Four to become Pokémon League Champion. To do that, you must learn to understand your Pokémon in every possible way.

Pokémon Gym: There are eight Pokémon Gyms across the region, and in each lies a Gym Leader who will give their Gym Badge to someone who defeats them in battle. Each Pokémon Gym specializes in a certain type of Pokémon, and each will normally have some kind of puzzle to overcome. Your goal is to beat all eight Pokémon Gyms, and then beat the Pokémon League.

Pokémon League: The pinnacle of Pokémon Trainers -- at least for the in-game storyline. After obtaining all eight Gym Badges, your next task is to come here. Here will lie the Elite Four and the Pokémon League Champion, the top five trainers in the region, who you must beat all in succession; by beating these five, you will prove your might as the best Trainer in the region...

Pokémon VGCs: The true pinnacle of Pokémon Training, the Pokémon Video Game Championships, or VGCs, are held yearly, first on the regional level and then the national and worldwide levels. Many thousands of Pokémon game players will come to these events, hoping to prove their might against each as the best Trainer in the world. Winning the VGCs is much different and infinitely more difficult and intricate than playing the actual game. Much of the info in this FAQ/Walkthrough was created for the sole purpose of aiding people understand the in-depth mechanics and general strategy of Pokémon just so you may be able to make that leap from battling the AI skillfully to winning championships against other people who know what they are doing. If you want to figure out info on the Pokémon VGCs, times, and locations, please go to the Pokémon official website, http://www.pokemon.com/.

Power (a.k.a. "Base Power" or "BP"): This is the Power stat attributed to a move: the higher, the better for the user of the move. In online forums and such, the abbreviation "BP" is often used as a shorthand: this is not to be mixed-up with the currency BP! For the sake of ease, though, you'll never hear me say "BP" in reference to Base Power throughout this guide. Just be careful when elsewhere.

Power Points (PP): PP are like currency for the use of a Pokémon's moves; think of them as the MP from other RPGs like Final Fantasy. By using a move, you will use up 1 PP for that move, or 2 PP if your foe has the ability Pressure. When a move has 0 PP, it cannot be used; if all of your moves hit 0 PP, then the Pokémon is forced to use the move Struggle, which is relatively weak and damages the user heavily. PP-restoring items are generally in limited quantities throughout the game, almost never being buyable or not in any exorbitant amount, so conservation of these Ethers and Elixirs will be very much important come the latter half of the game.

Priority: Each move in the game has its own "Priority" stat. Most moves are of a Priority of 0, but some are below or above that number. Pokémon using higher Priority moves will go first before those using lower Priority moves; if two Pokémon use a move of the same Priority, then their Speed will determine who goes first. Priority will even defy the warped turn order that Trick Room provides in the newer games! The Move Priority section contains more info.

Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB): When a Pokémon uses a move that is the same type as itself, the damage of the move is by default increased to 50% higher than normal. For example, Pikachu (an Electric Pokémon) using the move Thunderbolt (an Electric move) will deal 50% extra damage. This is a very significant boost and especially critical in the choice of moves a Pokémon will have. For example a super-effective move might do 120 HP of damage, which will only KO weak Pokémon HP-wise, but with STAB that move can be boosted to 180 HP of damage, which KO's the average Pokémon in competitive play!

Shiny: A Pokémon is Shiny if it just outright looks different from how it normally does. For example, Gyarados is blue but Shiny Gyarados is red; Sceptile is green but Shiny Sceptile is cyan; Kyogre is blue but Shiny Kyogre is pink. Shininess is exceedingly rare, usually a 1 in 4,096 chance in these games and it was 1 in 8,192 before the release of Pokémon X/Y in 2013. (There are exceptions.)

Single Battle: A battle between two people in which each only has one Pokémon out at a time. Under typical online battle rules and certain other rulesets, you must use three Pokémon total per side. This isn't the case for most in-game battles, though. Every battle in Pokémon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow are Single Battles.

Special (1): This definition refers to the Special class of moves - those of the Water, Grass, Fire, Ice, Electric, Psychic, or Dragno types. These moves use your Special stat to deal damage, and also use your target's Special stat to determine the damage as well, creating a minor imbalance. Since Generation II, this stat was split into Special Attack (Sp. Atk.) and Special Defense (Sp. Def.).

Speed (sometimes "Spd" or "Spe"): The Speed stat is, in its own way, the most relevant stat to competitive battling. Speed determines turn order in a very simple fashion: whoever has higher Speed goes first, and, if there is a tie in Speed, the two Pokémon tied will have equal chances of moving first. For example, a Pokémon with 210 Speed will almost always move before a Pokémon with 200 Speed; if two Pokémon have 200 Speed, then they are 50% likely to move first. However, this assumes that they are using moves of the same Priority. A further note of importance is that Speed also determines your critical hit rate - the base Speed divided by 512 is the rate of critical hits for you. (See: "Priority", "Critical hit")

Stat EXP.: Later known as EVs when the system was changed, stat EXP. is a means of altering your stats. Each Pokémon can earn Stat EXP. in their five stats, and their stat EXP. ranges from 0 to 65536. The growth rate of the stat in question is equal to [sqrt(Stat EXP)] / 4 at Level 100-- at the most, a 64-point gain, just like EVs, but the mechanics are different. EVs are earned from two means -- battles and Vitamins. When defeating a Pokémon in battle, the base stats of the defeated Pokémon are added to the respective Stat EXP. values, so a Mew, for example, will add 100 Stat EXP. to all stats. There is no limit on the total Stat EXP. across all stats, though. Vitamins also can boost Stat EXP. by 2,560 points for a single stat, but not above 25,600 Stat EXP.

Status (1): A move Class that does not deal direct damage. It instead says that the move will do something else, based on the move itself.

Status (2): Refers to a status condition that often inhibits the afflicted Pokémon; also known as an ailment. You should see the Status Ailments list for full details.

Switching In/Out: The act of choosing to switch out a Pokémon currently out with a different one in your party. Doing so has a number of consequences. When used, people usually do it one of several things. One is to eliminate stat changes, infatuation, and confusion, among a few other things from the Pokémon, which can be lethal if left unattended. Another is when the Pokémon is seen as likely to be attacked by a weakness-piercing attack and thus to switch to a Pokémon resisting that move rather than suffering death. For example, say you have Gyarados (Water/Flying) out versus Jolteon (Electric). Jolteon is fast and strong, and most importantly can learn Thunderbolt, which OHKO's Gyarados with ease due to the double-weakness to Electric plus STAB, resulting in 6x damage. By switching to a Ground Pokémon, however, you gain an important advantage and also avoid damage.

Technical Machine (TM): An item you can use to teach a Pokémon the move contained on the TM, if the Pokémon can learn it. There are 100 in all, so collect 'em all!

Trainer ID & Secret ID: If you check any Pokémon you yourself caught or check your Trainer Card, you'll notice that you have an ID. Everyone has an ID number attached to them, and there are 65536 possible numbers (00000 - 65535). There is also a hidden or "secret" ID you cannot see. It is also randomized, is unlikely to be the same as your seen Trainer ID, and also ranges from 00000 to 65535. The use of two IDs helps to ward off hackers; it also helps to ensure that the odds of any two players getting the same two IDs (both Trainer and Secret) is 1 in 4,294,967,296 (one in about 4 (American) billion chances). The uses of IDs are mostly in terms of breeding and EXP. growth in later generations.

Type: Every move in the game will have a type attached to it, and every Pokémon will have one or two types given to it simultaneously. Types are like elements in Pokémon: they determine what is super-effective or resistant to what. For example, you can see Fire moves doing lots of damage to Grass Pokémon, right? And also see how the same Fire-type move would likely deal less damage to a Water Pokémon? While not all type-effectiveness relationships are so simple, they are nonetheless important to learn! There are eighteen types in all: Normal, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Ground, Bug, Dark, Psychic, Ghost, Flying, Rock, Ice, Dragon, Fighting, Poison, Steel, and Fairy.

Vitamin: A particular type of used item. "Vitamins" is the general term for the items HP Up, Protein, Iron, Calcium, Zinc (in later games), and Carbos, which are items used on Pokémon to raise their stat experience. (See: Stat EXP.)

A CATCH RATE CALCULATOR

Go here to see it -- http://www.dragonflycave.com/rbycapturecalc.aspx

Capturing Pokémon is a simple process, albeit a sometimes annoying one in the cases of certain, rarer Pokémon - roaming Pokémon, for example. The game, by tradition, has poorly elaborated on what could be a more delicate process than most would think, especially with one-time-only scenarios. They usually delegate it to "Lower the Pokémon's HP and throw a Pokéball." Unlike later games, it's also a series of steps rather than a straightforward formula. Keep in mind all operations are truncated, so decimals are always left off.

Step #1 - Situational Characteristics: These are things based on where and when you're doing this.

If the target is a Marowak on Pokémon Tower 6F, the rate is 0%.

If the ball used is a Master Ball, the rate is 100%.

Otherwise, a random number (R1) is generated, based on the Pokéball used.

Poké Ball: 0 to 255

Great Ball: 0 to 200

Ultra Ball: 0 to 150

Safari Ball: 0 to 150

Step #2 - Status: Based on the status of the Pokémon. This variable S will be 25 if the target is asleep or frozen, 12 if poisoned, burned, or paralyzed, and 0 otherwise.

This means that a Poké Ball has, at this point, 1/256 chance to catch an unstatused Pokémon, 13/256 (5%) for S = 12, and (10%) for S = 25.

Likewise, the Great Ball has odds of 1/200 (0.5%), 13/200 (6.5%), and 26/200 (13%) respectively.

And the Ultra and Safari Balls have odds of 1/150 (0.6%), 13/150 (8.7%), and 26/150 (17.3%).

Step #4 - Health: At this point, we calculate the max health factor, MHF. For this, we find the target's Max HP times 255, then divide by a value: 8 if using a Great Ball and 12 otherwise. Then divide by the current health divided by four to determined the current health factor, CHF. Then divided MHF by CHF. Or, in short, (Max HP * 255) / (8 or 12) / (Current HP / 4), or, simpler: (Max HP * 255) / (Currernt HP * (32 or 48)). If this value exceeds 255, it is reduced to 255. We dub this now the HP Factor, F.

Step #5 - Base Catch Rate: If the base catch rate of the Pokémon is now less than CC1, capture fails and we skip on to the appropriate step. Otherwise, continue.

Step #6 - HP-Based Capture: Another random number R2 is generated. It ranges from 0 to 255. If R2 < F, the Pokémon is captured.

Step #7 - Capture Failed: We multiply the Pokémon's catch rate by 100 to help determine the number of wiggles, W. This step is probably pointless to most of you - in any case, it means we failed, and just want to determine the animation of the Pokéball.

W is divided by 255 for a Poké Ball, 200 for a Great Ball, and 150 for an Ultra/Safari Ball. If W > 255, the ball wiggles three times.

If not, find W * F / 255, then add 5 to this if the Pokémon is poisoned, burned, or paralyzed, or 10 if frozen or asleep. If W < 10, the ball misses altogether. If 10 < W < 29, there is one wiggle. If 30 < W < 69, the ball wiggles twice. If W > 70, the ball wiggles three times.

There are several ailments that can affect your Pokémon in this game, and many have unnamed effects, as below. Also note that Pokémon can only have one of the main ailments (Paralysis, Burn, Poison, Bad Poisoning, Sleep, KO/Faint) at one time, although the rest can accumulate as much as the person doing the damage allows - and, of course, KO overrides everything. The six ailments are listed first as Major Ailments for that reason. (Not that they're the worst or anything. It just helps to differentiate.) Several more of the Moderate Ailments are named so because they are still often used and often considered ailments, but not are the most threatening and they can stack. And, of course, these are extended to include pretty much anything that would be considered a status (a change to a single Pokémon) by Pokémon Showdown (a great battle sim) - most these would be considered Minor Ailments, which are mostly move- or item-caused with relatively unimportant effects or "duh" effects. Let me know if I forgot something.

Also, keep in mind that the cures are there for a reason. Yes, Flash Fire may not be a status you'd want to get off of your Pokémon, since it has nothing but benefits. But what if your opponent had the status? Remember, these go both ways, and not all statuses have to (or can) be cured with simple items that you'd be unable to use in normal competition, but also various moves. Switching out, for example, can be done via Roar to hit the opponent, or Parting Shot or U-turn or Volt Switch or more methods for yourself.

Immunizers: Being Poisoned, Badly Poisoned, Frozen, Burned, Paralyzed, or KO'd when the ailment is given

Details & Effects: This degree of Poisoning is executed via the move Toxic, double-layered Toxic Spikes, or the Toxic Orb, or a random chance from Poison Fang. The HP loss will actually increment on the afflicted Pokémon from 1/16 to 2/16 to 3/16 to 4/16 from there on out, causing death in about five turns without being hit or healed. Otherwise, the same as Poison.

Cures: Ice Heal (item); Full Heal (item); Full Restore (item); being hit with a Fire-type move; attempting to use a Fire-type move

Immunizers: Being Poisoned, Badly Poisoned, Frozen, Burned, Paralyzed, or KO'd when the ailment is given

Details & Effects: The afflicted Pokémon is absolutely and completely inactive for an indeterminate number of turns. Unlike Sleep, there's only a 20% for the Pokémon to be unfrozen at the start of their turn. When in battle, and they do not thaw out on a turn they attempt to take action in, they are completely left wide-open for damage, which is why this status can be very lethal - at the same time, though, Frozen is only induced via moves that have a 10% ~ 30% chance to do it as compensation. They will be thawed out after some time, when healed via an item, or hit with a Fire-type move of any sort. Using a Fire-type move will also thaw out the afflicted Pokémon, so attempting to freeze Fire-type Pokémon especially tends to be in vain.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon is absolutely unable to act in any way until revived from KO (such as by a Revive). This happens when the Pokémon hits 0 HP, so be sure to keep it high: if all Pokémon in your party hit zero HP, then you lose the battle and return to the last-used Pokémon Center. (The latter only really occurs in in-game battles: in multiplayer battles with other people, you simply lose.) Pokémon who are KO'ed, though, can still use their HM moves in the field.

Immunizers: Being Poisoned, Badly Poisoned, Frozen, Burned, Paralyzed, or KO'd when the ailment is given

Details & Effects: This ailment will, most notably, make it where the Pokémon has a 25% chance of doing nothing on a given turn. This will also quarter their Speed (with all boosts accounted for), typically making them the last to move. However, that Speed loss will not affect the priority of their moves, just the order in which they move when there are conflicts in regards to priority.

Immunizers: Being Poisoned, Badly Poisoned, Frozen, Burned, Paralyzed, or KO'd when the ailment is given

Details & Effects: The afflicted Pokémon will be unable to act. However, they can act in a manner by choosing the move Sleep Talk or Snore when their turn arises. The loss of action is temporal, but its length is random: it usually lasts around two or three turns, but can range from 1 to 7. The only exception to that is Rest, which is two turns of Sleep. There is little advantage to this beyond Rest-Sleep Talk/Rest-Snore combos. An additional negative effect of Sleeping is that Dream Eater can be used on the Sleeping Pokémon to damage them and absorb HP.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon has a chance of hitting itself on a given turn, thus doing damage to itself: the odds seem to be about 25% ~ 50%. This lasts for 1 to 4 turns. Additionally, the damage dealt upon hitting itself will be proportional to the Pokémon's Attack stat, stat boosts and items included, which is why the move Swagger (Confusion, Attack +2 stages) is so effective on physical attackers in later games.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon is either charging up for a move (e.g. Solar Beam, Sky Attack) or is recovering from a move (e.g. Hyper Beam, Blast Burn). Thus, they will not act for one turn. Depending on the move, other effects may be attributed to this.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon is using the move Dig, and cannot be hit by most moves - however, Digging Pokémon with Earthquake or Magnitude, each for double the normal power. They will attack on the next turn.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon has been afflicted with Leech Seed, and will lose 1/16 of its max HP every turn, which will be used to heal the user of Leech Seed or whoever switches into his slot. This has an interesting side-effect with Bad Poisoning in that it and Toxic will forcibly increase the other's damage: Toxic does 1/16, then Leech Seed will do 2/16, Toxic later deals 3/16, Leech Seed 4/16... It's deadly.

Details & Effects: All damage from Special-class attacks is reduced for the afflicted party. The move lasts 5 turns. The damage reduction is by 50% (to half). However, critical hits will be able to go through Light Screen and Reflect, so beware of this.

Details & Effects: The Pokémon will not be affected by any moves on the turn when this is used, except for Transform. This has a chance of failing with consecutive use: 1/X, where X is the number of consecutive uses this use of the move will make.

Details & Effects: All damage from Physical-class attacks is reduced for the afflicted party. The move lasts 5 turns. The damage reduction is by 50% (to half). However, critical hits will be able to go through Light Screen and Reflect, so beware of this.

Cures: Defeating the Substitute; the Infiltrator ability allows ignorance of this

Immunizers: None

Details & Effects: Substitutes arise when the move Substitute is used; it will sacrifice 25% of the user's max HP to get out a doll that has the same amount of HP; thus, most Pokémon using this move are often EV-trained for their HP and Defenses, or HP at minimum. (For example, a Pokémon with 324/400 HP uses Substitute: their Substitute has 100 HP, which is 1/4 of 400.) Since the Substitute needs to be killed before the real Pokémon can be hurt, these Pokémon also will use Focus Punch sometimes, a particularly common tactic among Breloom in later games, especially in Single Battles since the opponent's turn is wasted using the move that removes the Substitute.

Details & Effects: Enacted by the move Transform, the Pokémon will become the same as the target. This means they copy stats (except HP) with level-based adjustments (in other words: Level 50 Ditto copies Level 100 Pokémon with 400 Attack, Ditto has 200), stat changes, moves (PP will become 5/5 for all moves, despite any PP UP'ing), and ability; pretty much the only things not copied are HP and item held. This is a bit gimmicky, but can work on Pokémon EV-trained for HP, and it's amazingly common for Blissey to be chosen for Imposter on Pokémon Showdown metagames that allow illegal ability/moveset changes (since Blissey has the highest HP of all, and then can copy awesome stats).

Most of you who'd probably bother to be looking at an FAQ have absolutely no idea what a DV is, or what the significance of six perfect DVs is, or what your Pokémon's Stat Experience Points are intended to do. (I assume this since most people ready for official competition - and thus already know this stuff - generally don't read FAQs. Sorry if I'm being overly-presumptuous.)

These are the reasons why two Pokémon - even of the same species, and even raised by the exact same person - could end up drastically different. They can be the difference between a Pokémon using a physical- or special-oriented moveset. They can be the difference between going with a speedy Dragonite or a bulky one that abuses Dragon Dance. They can be the reason behind an effective Pokémon that knows Transform. When properly manipulated, many new strategies open up for your Pokémon, for you are more free in manipulating their statistics. With the proper knowledge, you can actually calculate the Pokémon's Level 100 stats before the Pokémon has even been hatched!

And so, you need to learn what these are, how they work, and how to manipulate them to your own advantages. Keep in mind that this section is absolutely by no means intended to be read by people who do not intend to battle against other, real-life people in a competitive setting. You will not need to know any of this stuff to get through the game at all.

Within the following sections, I will discuss what the nature of these stats and what they do, and more exactly how one can manipulate them in their own favor to help them make their Pokémon - for their strategy - completely and utterly flawless.

If you've ever played Pokémon competitively before, or seen such discussions on forums, you're probably fairly aware of the concept of an Effort Value. Stat Experience - or just Stat EXP. - is much the same, and is in fact the predecessor of Effort Values (EVs). Stat EXP. is indeed like an experience point system for your stats: by defeating Pokémon, you secretly accumulate this Stat EXP. and your stats will in turn grow.

How do your stats grow? Well, with every level-up, your stats are recalculated. A Stat EXP. boost will be applied as needed -- the boost is equal to "sqrt(Stat EXP.) / 4" at Level 100, and proportionate amounts below. Stat EXP. can range from 0 to 65,536, and is applied individually to each stat, so any and all stats can receive a boost of 64 points by Level 100. Unlike EVs, there is no limitation across all your stats: each stat can have the maximum value if desired.

So, how do you gain Stat EXP.? Well, there are two means. The first is the most obvious -- by defeating opposing Pokémon. Each Pokémon, as you may know, has a set of base stats that determine its individual stat growth; well, when you defeat a Pokémon, the Pokémon's base stat values are added to your stat EXP. So say you beat a Pokémon with a 154 base Attack stat - you then get 154 Attack stat EXP.! The alternative method is to use Vitamins, like HP Ups and Proteins -- these boost your stats by 2,560 Stat EXP., but will not do more than 25,600 points of growth.

Much like how Stat EXP. is the antecedent of Effort Values, DVs are the antecedent of IVs, if you've ever learned about them. If not, don't worry about it.

Each stat has its own unique DV value. Four of these are determined at random: Attack, Defense, Special, and Speed. Their values also range at random from 0 to 15, but are stored in binary, so they range from 0000-1111 in binary. The significance of this is that it is the DVs of these four that determine the HP DV - specifically, the "one's" digit of each binary number in the order named previously will be taken together. So DVs of 0101, 0111, 0000, and 0001 - 5, 7, 0, and 1 respectively - will result in an HP DV of 1101, or 13. But, in practice, they're simply random.

The influence of DVs is pretty basic - you'll earn that a number of points in that stat equal to double the DVs by Level 100. DVs are completely set-in from the time your Pokémon is found, so they cannot be changed.

In case you viewed any version of this guide prior to v1.40+, take note that the "Stat Change Conversions" section which equated stat changes across stats to each other was flawed and pointless. A change of +X in a stat equals -X in the other, always.

Stat changes occur when a move or item affects the actual stat in battle. There are moves known to raise and lower a Pokémon's stats, and they can be quite influential in the outcome battle - imagine if your Pokémon was suddenly dealing double damage! Of course, how would you know they're dealing double the damage from before? The game poorly elaborates on this mechanic, but below, you'll see exactly how stats and their in-battle modifications interact with each other to produce some devastating moves.

Finally, we will discuss one topic that is moreso of interest than actual necessity: what happens when two stat changes are in effect at the same time, but for opposite stats on two Pokémon? Like, for example, your Attack being lowered 1 stage as well as your opponent's Defense? Will the damage necessarily equal out? Will I actually deal more damage!? This section will help to simplify that process. As demonstrated by the previous section, we cannot necessarily assume a "net change" (i.e. -1 Atk. and -1 Def. is equal damage to no changes at all), even though it's not exactly "net". In any case, remember this:

Attack changes on you will oppose those of your opponent's Defense, and vice versa

The same holds true for Sp. Atk. and Sp. Def., barring a few moves that consider Defense in lieu of Sp. Def. (thus, the first chart applies for both Physical and Special attacks)

Accuracy changes on you will oppose those of your opponent's Evasion, and vice versa